Oct 2 (Reuters) - The sale of debt by states, cities, schools and other issuers in the U.S. municipal bond market totaled $271.8 billion in the first nine months of 2017, a 16 percent drop from the same period in 2016, according to Thomson Reuters data on Monday.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch was the top underwriter of muni debt so far this year, with 389 deals totaling $43.4 billion, followed by Citi with 386 deals totaling $34.7 billion and J.P. Morgan Securities with 258 deals totaling $24.1 billion.

California was the top issuer, selling nearly $7.2 billion of debt in eight deals. The New York City Transitional Finance Authority came in second with $5.35 billion of debt in 14 deals, followed by the New York State Dormitory Authority with 18 deals totaling nearly $5 billion.